Swiss  photographer René Groebli visited London in 1953 and by chance encuntered Beryl Chen, a young women recently arrived in the city along with a wave of other immigrants seeking a better future. Her Jamaican mother and Chinese father far away, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and affirmation, and agrees to be photographed by Groebli. Using back-and-white images made with his Leica camera, he mixes reportage and artful storytelling in an attempt to document her life in this new, formidable city. Perhaps she will find her purpose, or happiness; perhaps she will find even love. Now, 60 years later, this previously unpublished series of images finally comes to light.

While a book dummy of Beryl Chen was made in 1954, the actual book was never produced. Over 60 years later Sturm & Drang is releasing BERYL CHEN for the first time. After working together on the seminal book "Das Auge der Liebe" Groebli and designer Werner Zyrd did also a layout for Beryl Chen. The book layout engages in a very unusual and progressive way of telling the story, with a modern rhythm and a cinematic editing that echoes the new visual language of Italian neorealism.“

René Groebli is a Swiss photographer born 1927 in Zurich

renegroebli.ch

800 copies

48 pages

Pictures: 44 tri-tone plates

Year: 2016

ISBN: 9780984820283

Hardcover, 29,7 x 21 cm